Learn how to make quinoa crispies at home. All you need is cooked quinoa and 30 minutes to make this delicious and nutritious snack!
If you’ve been an SQ reader for a while then you’ve probably heard me talk about quinoa crispies before. I used them in my quinoa crispy treats way back in the day, and have since added them to chocolate, energy balls, and granola bars.
Butttt trouble is…they’re hard to find.
Whenever I use them in a recipe, I know I’m going to get a few comments/emails about what the heck they are and where the heck you can find them.
What are Quinoa Crispies?
Quinoa crispies (or crisps) are basically the rice crispy version of quinoa. They’re essentially quinoa which has been popped in some magical machine to make it super crispy. A similar texture to rice crispies, but much smaller.
Where can you find them? Maybe if you’re lucky you can find them at a natural health food store, but I’ve never seen them there, so I always point people online. You can usually find them either on Amazon or from Edison Grainery.
Only thing is they can be a little on the pricey side, unless…
…YOU MAKE THEM AT HOME!
Yes! I figured out how to make quinoa crispies at home (shout out to my homegirl Monique from Ambitious Kitchen for sparking this idea) and I’m obsessed.
I literally make them all the time and use them for everything. They are super easy to make, all you need is 1 ingredient and 30 minutes. So easy in fact, I made you a little video 😉
How to make Quinoa Crispies?
Quinoa crispies go well on pretty much everything. I’ve been having them almost every morning on my smoothie bowls, sprinkle them on my yogurt, toss them on top of banana ice cream and use them in chocolate bars (recipe coming soon) AND energy bars (recipe coming Thursday!).
Only thing I haven’t tried them in is my quinoa crispy treats, but not to worry, that’s next on the agenda.
Your turn…
Now that you can see how easy it is to make quinoa crispies, are you going to try it? What are you going to use them for? I’d love to hear about your creations, so snap a pic and share it on Instagram using #simplyquinoa – can’t wait to see what you come up with!
xx A
p.s. think we can get a hashtag going? Just like #quinoapizza, I think we should use #quinoacrisps for anything we make with our crispies. Who’s with me? You rock!
Fantastic Recipes to try with Quinoa Crispies:
- Sea Salt + Dark Chocolate Quinoa Energy Balls
- Crispy Tofu Tacos with Vegan Lime Crema
- 5-Ingredient Chocolate Quinoa Birds Nest Cookies
- Coconut Chai Protein Quinoa Energy Bites
- Apple, Peanut + Honey Quinoa Granola Bars
- Vegan Almond Butter Cups with Crispy Quinoa
Quinoa Crispies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cooked quinoa or more if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Transfer quinoa to a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes so as not to burn it.
- Once crispy, allow the quinoa to cool completely then transfer to a glass container and store on the counter for up to 1 week.
- Enjoy on top of smoothie bowls, stirred into your yogurt or even just a quick snack. So good!
Video
Nutrition
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I cannot get enough of these. I used to but Grapenuts cereal in my yogurt but have replaced them with these. They are lower calorie with no added sugar and they taste amazing. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I have had them before, in fancy restaurants or something, but never was brave enough to look up how to do them myself. I found this post from your healthy Caesar salad recipe and it looks so easy, I think I’m gonna try it! crossing my fingers, lol!
Hello, will this cooking techniques remove the nutritional value of the quinoa?
Hi,
Can these be baked in an air fryer rather than a traditional oven? If so, how long would you recommend?
This would be a quicker way of baking them so saves on time and electricity. Just a thought.
Kind regards
You could try them in the air fryer! We have only tried the rest as it is written so if you give in a try let us know how it goes!
These quinoa crispies turned out great for me. Although with my oven, I did have to cook it about 10 minutes longer. Thanks so much for the recipe.
This looks so good! I have a bunch of already cooked quinoa and since there’s so much, I’m wondering if you think it would ever work to freeze it once crispy or do you think it would end up soggy? Maybe I’ll freeze some of the cooked stuff to thaw and do this with.
I would freeze the cooked rather than freeze the crispy! But the crispies should last quite a while as well 🙂
My crisps came out really hard. Did I undercook or overcook? I have a very finicky oven so it’s hard to tell… The Turtle Chocolate balls were still excellent though! A little hard on the teeth but still yummy!
This is such a yummy recipe Alyssa! especially if you love Reese’s! I wanted a healthy refined sugar free alternative as a sweet and this hits the spot. I used 1/4 cup coconut sugar and 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey. Both worked and came put perfect! The first time the quinoa fell apart (i used the store puffed ones). The second time i made it stuck together better. I’m going to try puffing the quinoa at home next time.
I’m so glad!!
Hi, mine is like clusters, is it due to my quinoa is too soft? They are a little lumpy
I think you might not have let it cool enough? You should also be able to break it up with your hands into smaller pieces 🙂
Definitely making these tomorrow can’t wait to try
You’re going to love them! xo
i’ve been replacing croutons with these to make my salads a little more nutritious while still having a satisfying crunch
That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Since it’s so hot and humid where I am, I’m going to try them in my dehydrator. Has anyone else tried this?
Alyssa, I tried your recipe today but my quinoa turned into something hard. Is it like this or did I make wrong?
Do I need to boil and soften the quinoa first or nah?
Yes! It needs to be cooked 🙂
Hi Alyssa,
My boyfriend and I love your recipes and have made a few to great success and they’ve been super delicious! 🙂
I do have a question regarding the quinoa crispies – are they stored in a covered glass container or in an uncovered one? Thanks!!
That makes me so happy, Tammy! Thrilled you guys are loving everything. And for storage, I recommend keeping them in a sealed container!
I’m obsessed with these! Thank you! I had a fantastic moment yesterday morning.
I have two girls, almost 2 and 3 1/2. My hubs does not find anything wrong with the standard American diet and so he makes sure they eat all sorts of things, including yummy sugary breakfast cereals, etc. But yesterday I was having a little bowl of these yummies with some homemade coconut milk that I had just finished, and sure enough two little girls wanted a bite. Then they needed more and more and so I had to get them each their own bowls, and then we ran out and needed to make more. That sort of thing is very satisfying to a mother 🙂
And my hubs does enjoy your other recipes. He doesn’t even know he hasn’t consumed cream of mushroom or other garbage for months! 🙂
I’m SOOOO happy to hear that!! I actually think that you could play around with flavors for this too. I’m working on a post for this, but I’m thinking we could make a healthy chocolate version and probably cinnamon!
I can’t wait to try this! I never heard of quinoa crispies before.
Oh I think you’re going to really like them!!
Fantastic, so pleased I came across your site, thank you so much, looking forward to making quinoa crisps.
Can’t wait to hear what you think of them, Jennifer! xo
Have you tried any added flavors to it?
I haven’t, but that’s on my list! I want to make cinnamon sugar ones and also chocolate ones 😉 Let me know if you give it a try!
Thank you so much! I have wanted to try Quinoa Crisps for SO long but they are always so expensive! 🙂
Yay! Can’t wait to hear what you think 🙂
Hi, can I use the dehydrator instead of the oven?
I bet you could, but I haven’t tried. Let us know if you do 🙂
How did it go in the dehydrator?
Ooh yum! Can’t wait to try this.
Let me know how they turn out! I just put some on my smoothie bowl this morning 🙂
I’ve had never heard of quinoa crisps before until I bumped onto your pin.
It’s amazing how crunchy they are and so good in my yoghurt for breakfast!
Thanks for sharing the idea.
Pinned! 😉
So happy you found them! Absolutely LOVE them!!
I’m going to make the quinoa crispies with the red quinoa I made for dinner. I assume this won’t be a problem when I make the crispies. Or will it?
Nope! I’ve done it with all the colors and it works beautifully 🙂 Enjoy!
So should I let the seeds first soak a bit in water or cook them and then bake them in the oven or do I bake them straight out of the package??
Nope you use cooked quinoa to make these. So you could it like you normally would – boiled in water – and then let it cool completely and then bake. Hope that helps! xo
Hi Alyssa. This is a fun idea so thanks for posting. Do you have to let the quinoa cool after boiling in water and before baking?
Yep, it’s best to start with cool quinoa. You can speed up the process using the fridge or freezer 🙂
You have to wash quinoa before cooking it, but do you need to wash it for thus recipe? Will the quinoa be bitter if you don’t wash it?
Feel free to wash it if you like! Since this uses cooked quinoa, I suggest you just cook the quinoa however you normally do…washed or not! 🙂
Alyssa, I love quinoa, but can no longer eat it (except I can eat flakes), because of it’s resemblance to a seed (can’t digest). When you toast the raw quinoa & it pops, does it have a rice krispie-ish consistency rather than a seed-like consistency? I’ve wanted to ask this for awhile. I can’t eat hard bits even cracked pepper (boo). If you say this is like a rice krispie you will make me very happy!!! Thanks!
Hi Lynne – sorry to hear that quinoa is giving you some trouble. Unfortunately when you pop the raw quinoa it is more like a seed, but this method that I use here, it’s more like a rice crispy. Since it’s cooked before and then dried out it’s much lighter than when it’s popped raw. Let me know what you think! xo
Look into soaking!
I tried this and love it, but it is sticking to the pan. Should I grease the pan or will this not work?
Hmmm I haven’t experienced that. I would suggest you either grease the pan OR you could use parchment paper!
Maybe some coconut oil to give it that great coconut taste.
I love this idea! I’ve bought puffed quinoa before thinking that I would be kind of similar to crispy rice but it’s not. I will definitely be giving this a try!
Yes! Hope you enjoy it 🙂 xo
Ok-come on now-how ’bout Cocoa Quinoa Crispies ( with coconut?) Let
the experiments begin!
Oh that’s definitely on my list!
This is great! Thanks!
Hope you give it a try 🙂